Training and Securing a 21st-Century Workforce

By Wallace Bohannan

We must ensure that all those we train in high-demand skills have an opportunity to find work and contribute to our economy.

Last summer Dr. Dennis King took the reins as president of Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College. He had served in the position on an interim basis from January to July 2014. But unlike several recent presidents who have been recruited from outside, Dr. King’s involvement with the school long predates his presidency.

For 20 years he served as A-B Tech’s Vice President of Student Services, and he thoroughly understands the culture of the school, including the needs of the staff, students, and surrounding community. He is dedicated to serving the City of Asheville, Buncombe County, and all the region’s communities where the college has a presence.

One of Dr. King’s priorities is to become more welcoming to minorities. To help increase minority presence on the campus, he appointed Darryl Rhymes as Special Assistant for Inclusion. Mr. Rhymes serves on the Selection Committee for prospective staff members and oversees a special budget to advertise for minority candidates from far beyond WNC, including such areas as Atlanta, Maryland, and Washington DC. This outreach has already recruited a highly qualified candidate for a critical position at the college. Dr. King is also planning on increasing minority presence on the staff of Student Services so that incoming minority students will feel more welcome.

Another change will be to build on the college’s existing strengths by providing an already highly qualified staff more opportunities for professional development. The school was recently awarded a $100,000 grant to help staff keep pace with changes going on in the workplace.

The college also received a five-year, five-million-dollar endowment to build the Ferguson Allied Health Building on Victoria Road that will help A-B Tech keep pace with the growing, changing needs of the medical community. A-B Tech is also building two other facilities: an Emergency Services building and training facility in Woodfin, and an 800-seat auditorium and “multi-purpose” building on the Asheville campus.

“A-B Tech is in a position to be flexible in meeting the needs of the students, staff and community,” says Dr. King. The college learns about these needs through surveys, meetings in the community, and direct contact with area businesses.

Many businesses, small and large, require well-trained employees, and many WNC students from regional high schools can look forward to successful, rewarding, and lucrative careers—if they have the training they need. The role of A-B Tech since its founding in 1959 has been to train students for those careers, and the college has a long history of working with employers to ensure that education is in line with jobs.

At a recent meeting with the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce, it was pointed out that with two new hotels going up, there would a need for more people trained in the hospitality industry. With a nationally recognized and award-winning program in Hospitality and Food Services, A-B Tech was able to quickly add a staff position to train more students for jobs in that industry.

Similarly, the college has many programs to prepare students for well-paying careers in the burgeoning craft beer trade and the high-tech mechanical engineering industry. General Electric Corporation’s pioneering GE Aviation facility in Fletcher relies on well-trained graduates of such A-B Tech programs as Robotics and Ceramic Technology for Aircraft Engines.

“If the programs don’t lead to jobs with employers, then we scrap them,” says Dr. King. Some of the new programs coming to A-B Tech are Aviation, Health and Fitness Sciences, Environmental Engineering, Cardiovascular Sonography, and HVAC Associate in Applied Sciences.

Students at A-B Tech can get an Associates degree that prepares them to transfer to a four-year college or university. A-B Tech graduates go on to such area institutions as UNC Asheville, Mars Hill University, and Warren Wilson College, as well as farther afield to Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, Appalachian State in Boone, and other public and private schools like Chapel Hill, NCA&T, Wake Forest, Duke, and other colleges, both in and beyond North Carolina’s borders.

Other students earn an Associates degree geared to obtaining a job, or a diploma that qualifies them to obtain a job. In addition, many adults enroll in A-B Tech’s Continuing Education Program to obtain new employability skills, change careers, or improve credentials so as to be eligible for advancement and promotion—and salary increases.

One of Dr. King’s biggest challenges when taking over as president was dealing with discontent that had trickled down to staff from prior leadership issues. Dr. King’s knowledge of staff, policies, procedure, and leadership has led to increased morale. Perhaps his greatest pleasure as president is working with the people he considers “wonderful employees and super students.”

With no hidden agenda, Dr. King is laser-focused on ensuring that A-B Tech stay on track with its mission “to serve the students and the community.” With no aspiration to use his job as a launching pad for a future position, he plans to retire from the school after doing his utmost to ensure that A-B Tech maintains and grows its reputation as the best community college in North Carolina.